Ephesians 5: 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads

to debauchery. Instead, be filled with

the Spirit.

1.Wine is a gift of God , a sign of prosperity and blessing

Ps alm104:14-15He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate—

bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart.

Joel 2:18-19,24Then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people.

The LORD will reply to them: 'I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.

The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

2. Wine is part of sacrificial offerings

Numbers 15:5-11

With each lamb for the burnt offering or the sacrifice, prepare a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering.

"'With a ram prepare a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil, and a third of a hin of wine as a drink offering. Offer it as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.

"'When you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, for a special vow or a fellowship offering to the LORD, bring with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil. Also bring half a hin of wine as a drink offering. It will be an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.

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3. Wine was used at Israel’s feasts

Deuteronomy 14:22-27Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each

year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.

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4. Wine is used as medicine in the O.T.

Proverbs 31:6 Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish

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5. Jesus turned water into Wine

John 2:1-11

6. Jesus drank wineLuke 7:33

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."

7. Wine was used as medicine in the N.T. Luke 10:34

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.

1 Timothy 5:23

Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.

1. Wine can create some serious family problems

Noah: Gen 9:21When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay

uncovered inside his tent. (20-27)Lot: Gen 19:33-35That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older

daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

2. Wine has great potential to destroy lives

Proverbs 20:1Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;

whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Proverbs 23:20-21 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on

meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Proverbs 31:4-6"It is not for kings, O Lemuel--not for kings to drink wine,

not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the

oppressed of their rights.

2. Wine has great potential to destroy lives

Proverbs 23:29-35Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaints?Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup,

when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing

things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the

rigging. "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt!

They beat me, but I don't feel it!When will I wake up so I can find another drink?"

3. Wine has great potential to destroy lives

Isaiah 5:11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after

their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.

Isaiah5:22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and

champions at mixing drinks,

Hosea 4:10-12…They have deserted the LORD to give themselves to

prostitution, to old wine and new, which take away the understanding of my people.

4. Wine was prohibited to certain groups

Priests on duty: Levitucus. 10:9; Ezekiel 44:21;

Nazirites: Numbers 6

Kings and Rulers: Proverbs 31:4-5

4. Church Leaders are not to abuse alcohol1 Timothy 3:2-3Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband

of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness,

1 Timothy 3:8 Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not

indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.

Titus 2:3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they

live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.

5. Drunknenness is condemned as incompatible with the new life in Christ

1 Peter 4:3-4 For you have spent enough time in the past doing

what pagans choose to do-living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you.

5. Drunknenness is condemned as incompatible with the new life

1 Corinthians 6:9-11Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Galatians 5:19-21The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity

and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

6. When alcohol is a stumbling block it is to be avoided

Romans 14:21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do

anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

SO…The Bible speaks positively and negatively of alcohol

in both the Old and New Testament

- as a blessing from God, for celebration, ceremony, sacrifice, medicine

- alcohol has great destructive power

-abstinence not compulsory but is a legitimate option, and in some situations required

-alcohol must not get in the way of relationships

- drunkenness is condemned

Ephesians 5: 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads

to debauchery. Instead, be filled with

the Spirit.

Ephesians 5: 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to

debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit

THE KEY QUESION WE MUST ASK OURSELVES: Where does alcohol fit into a life which Loves

God, Seeks God’s Kingdom first and is filled with the Holy Spirit?